As we can see, much software is only available as a service (SaaS). Some of the software powering those services is Open Source, some is Free Software, and some is neither. The power in these types of systems is more about the data, and access to the data, than software.

Do you see any licenses that could be created to surround access to data, such as APIs? Perhaps an API could be licensed as Open Access or Free Access, allowing the users to do what they like with the service or data. Granted, the organization providing Free Access could close or simply halt access to the API. Are there licensing mechanisms developers can use today to grant their users better access to their user-supplied data?

So were all sorts of plants for agriculture, but neither dogs nor plants were genetically modified with [genetic engineering|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering] which is how we define GMOs.

You post publicly on both Google+ and the LKML. Some of your posts get a lot of attention on G+ like naming the next version 3.20 or 4.0, which is a different audience than the Linux Kernel mailing list.

What do you like and dislike about communicating on either platform, Google+ or the LKML? How do you feel about their respective audiences? Do you enjoy the tools you use to participate in public discussions on Google+ and the LKML?

Posted
by
samzenpuson Thursday June 25, 2015 @07:26AM
from the true-blood dept.

schwit1 writes: The NHS plans to test artificial blood made from human stem cells in patients and hopes to start transfusing people with artificial blood by 2017. The trials will take place in Cambridge and If successful could lead to the mass production of artificial blood. The Independent reports: "A long-awaited clinical trial of artificial red blood cells will occur before 2017, NHS scientists said. The blood is made from stem cells extracted from either the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies or the blood of adult donors. The trial, thought to be a world first, will involve small transfusions of a few teaspoons of synthetic blood to test for any adverse reactions. It will allow scientists to study the time the manufactured red blood cells can survive within human recipients. Eventually, it is hoped that the NHS will be able to make unlimited quantities of red blood cells for emergency transfusions."

Posted
by
timothyon Saturday May 30, 2015 @08:27AM
from the I-can-do-those-things-at-scale dept.

jan_jes writes: MIT researchers demonstrated an untethered miniature origami robot that self-folds, walks, swims, and degrades at ICRA 2015 in Seattle. A miniature robotic device that can fold-up on the spot, accomplish tasks, and disappear by degradation into the environment promises a range of medical applications but has so far been a challenge in engineering. This work presents a sheet that can self-fold into a functional 3D robot,actuate immediately for untethered walking and swimming, and subsequently dissolve in liquid. Further, the robot is capable of conducting basic tasks and behaviors, including swimming, delivering/carrying blocks, climbing a slope, and digging. The developed models include an acetone-degradable version, which allows the entire robot's body to vanish in a liquid. Thus this experimentally demonstrate the complete life cycle of this robot: self-folding,actuation, and degrading.